Something in his mind
by Ebenbild
Summary: It is a stormy nigh in Hogwarts and a certain caretaker is on a new mission... (Contains a little bit hints of slash.)
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer**__: Sadly, Harry Potter and all his friends belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrowed some to play a prank on them. xD_

_This is a story for a friend of mine. She told me she looked for something like that (xD) and was happy not finding it. So I had to write a story about it xDD._

_**Warning**__: hints of slash (Just a little bit.)_

**Something in his mind.**

The night was dark. Outside the castle a storm was howling and the trees were bowed to the wind. Some of the howling willow's branches had broken and were lying on the ground, waiting for Hagird to put them away. But not that day. Not that day, when a storm like that was blowing raindrops as huge as snitches through the blackened sky.

That day, the lessons outside were cancelled and because of that the classes ended early. In their free time, the most of the students stayed in their houses or in the library, so no-on was in the floors, when a slim, slightly creepy looking figure rushed through them. The mouse-grey hair of the figure was unkempt and long and the figure seemed to go bald. Next to the figure was a cat, no, not just A cat – THE cat. The only cat every student of Hogwarts was afraid of. Mrs Norris. So the figure next to her was Argus Filch. And he was on a mission.

Normally, his mission would be chasing students through the castle, punishing them for their wrong-doing or ambushing them. But that day, it wasn't. That day was a special day. A very special day. And because of that, the caretaker had been extra careful while choosing his cloth. He had been thinking a lot about them and was wearing, because of this, a suit. Yeah, a real suit. A little crumpled, a little torn and a little old, but it was a suit - a brown suit with a white, a little filthy shirt and a blue, violet necktie. Not really nice so see, but the caretaker had taken a lot of effort to look so… good.

He had to, it WAS a special day after all.

So the caretaker strode through the castle, nearly running because he was a little bit late that day. He strode to the entrance with the gargoyle, stopped there and took a deep breath before whispering the password.

"Lemondrops", he whispered and the gargoyle opened the entrance for him. The stairs took long to bring him on the top to the door he was longing for. Oh, he had been longing for this all day and night the last fifty years. And now, now, now he was getting what he was longing for!

When the stairs stopped at the door, and Filch knocked, some rustling could be heard, and then a soft voice, calling him in.

Filch looked down to the cat next to him.

"From now on, adults only, my dear one", he said, "wait here for me."

Argus Filch knew Mrs Norris would do what he was telling her. She would let him go.

Another deep breath taking and a last time combing through his hair with his fingers, and after that, Filch was opening the door to Albus Dumbledore's room.

He went in.

Albus Dumbledore was standing in front of his desk, waiting for him. Waiting for him to arrive.

Filch closed the door and locked it. His hands still on the doorknob, he stopped.

Then a sheepishly smile showed on his face.

"Albus" he said, nodding to greet the headmaster.

The answer was a bride smile. It was so bright like the sun and Argus Filch nearly had to close his eyes because it was blinding him.

"Argus, my dear one" Albus said, still smiling and leaning on his desk.

"I…" Argus Filch stopped, not sure how to continue.

"Yes?"

"I…" He took again a deep breath. "I wish you a happy birthday."

"Thank you, my dear one" Albus answered while lifting an eyebrow. "Why are you greeting me from the door. What's with my birthday kiss?"

Smiling happily the caretaker let go of the doorknob. He strode to the headmaster, leaning forward with puckered lips while looking on the headmaster's mouth where he would place that kiss.

With a scream loud enough to wake up Snape in the dungeons, Albus Dumbledore awoke from his dream. His nightmare, to say it correctly. Sitting up in his bed, he covered his lips, looking around in his room, searching for the caretaker. He was not there. Of course he wasn't, this was Albus' bedroom after all. Gasping for breath it took a while to calm down enough so that Albus knew, what he needed now.

So Albus Dumbledore stood up, got dressed with his sapphire blue dressing gown and left his bedroom. With flying steps he left his private rooms and escaped to the kitchen of the castle. The kitchen was empty, as always in the middle of the night but that was all right. Dumbledore took a cup out of one of the cupboards and set a cauldron with water on the fire. After that he started to look for the chocolate.

He was still not calm enough that his fingers weren't shaking any more, but he guessed, he soon would be.

"Headmaster" Albus fingers lost his grip and chocolate bar and cup dropped. A shattering sound told him, that the cup had broken.

A sighting behind him, then the cup repaired itself.

"You're okay?"

The voice was soft, softer than any student had ever heard it.

It took a moment for the headmaster to answer that question. "I am, Severus, I am."

The potion master lifted an eyebrow.

"You are." It was not a question, but Albus could hear, that the young wizard didn't believe him a bit.

"I am" he said. "I just had something on my mind so I didn't hear you coming."

"You had." The same tone as before.

"I…"

"You must have a lot on your mind – and a lot scary things it must be, to wake me in the dungeons with your screaming."

"I wasn't screaming. I was just… just thinking in my rooms."

"You weren't" Snape's voice was soft again. "I'm nearly sure I really heard you scream."

"When you would have heard, Minerva would be here with you now."

That argument was something Snape couldn't deny.

"So you had just something on your mind. And that something did't let you scream and it wasn't scary at all." Snape clearly didn't believe him.

"Yeah… yeah… it is a lot. And it WAS scary."

The answer of the potion master was that he took the hot water from the fire, filled the headmaster's cup and put the chocolate in. After that he gave it to Albus, while pushing him to a chair to sit down. Without looking and with a tip of his want he filled himself another cup of hot chocolate and sat down in front of the headmaster.

"What are you doing?" Albus asked bewildered. He knows that Snape never drinks hot chocolate. He even guessed, that the potion master hated this drink.

"I wait 'till you have cleared that something from your mind" the potion master answered while sipping on his drink. He grimaced and took another sip.

"How can you drink that every time you 'have something on your mind'?"

"I like it. It calms me down" the headmaster answered.

"Does it?" With this, the potion master drank again.

"Yeah."

"Then drink."

And the headmaster took a sip. The chocolate tasted bitter sweet. It was a little too less from it in the cup, so the drink tasted a little bit of water, but it was all right. After all, there was not every time a potion master who made him some hot chocolate and stayed with him until he was able to stop shaking.

"Thank you for coming" he said.

"You have woken me up. I wouldn't have been able to sleep again."

Both of Snape's sentences were a lie, but Albus Dumbledore was happy, that someone cared for him - even if it was a night owl potion master who had a magical sensor on the kitchen door to hear when the headmaster was taking another round to the kitchen after a nightmare.

But after all, no-one could chose his friends.

_Please review. I would like to know what you think about it._


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer**__: Sadly, Harry Potter and all his friends belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrowed some to play a prank on them. xD_

_This is a story for a friend of mine. She told me she looked for something like that (xD) and was happy not finding it. So I had to write a story about it xDD._

_**Warning**__: hints of slash (Just a little bit.)_

_SSADSSADSSAD_

**A little bit more in his mind**

After Dumbledore had calmed down, Severus went back to the dungeons. Dumbledore instead returned slowly to his office. He felt better now so he wasn't returning slowly because he had still to calm down. He felt as good as ever, but he liked to wander in the halls of Hogwarts, knowing that the rest of the school was sound asleep and save, so he used this opportunity to do so.

It was, when he arrived near his office that he heard footsteps in one of the other gangways. Another late night traveller? A student who was breaking the curfew? A teacher controlling the halls? But why here? He was just a few steps from his office. Who would come here this late? No student, because there was nothing worth breaking the curfew near here. Also no teacher, because there would be no students here. So who was walking here in the middle of the night?

Dumbledore's heart started to beat faster. "I'm a grown up wizard" He said to himself. "I'm the most powerful wizard in the world. So whom should I fear?" He stopped for a moment with his mumblings correcting himself after that. "OK. Whom should I fear except Lord Voldemort?" But it was more than unlikely that Lord Voldemort himself would be wandering through the halls of Hogwarts in the middle of the night. Maybe he would, when he would be able to, but he wasn't as long as Dumbledore was the headmaster of Hogwarts, so there was nothing to fear for…

Dumbledore breathed a few times in and out, then he stepped forward to his office. He reached the gargoyle and he just wanted to say the password, when the footsteps of the other person stopped behind him.

"Headmaster" A silky voice croaked "what a pleasure to find you down here. I was just now coming for you."

Dumbledore turned slowly. Behind him was standing a slim, slightly creepy looking figure. The mouse-grey hair of the figure was unkempt and long and the figure seemed to go bald. Next to the figure was a cat, no, not just A cat – THE cat. The only cat every student of Hogwarts was afraid of. Mrs Norris. So the figure next to her was Argus Filch, the caretaker. Normally the clothes of Argus Filch were as silky as his voice had been. But today it was different. He was wearing a tux as if today was a special day for him…

And because of that, the caretaker seemed to have been extra careful while choosing his cloth. It seemed, that he had been thinking a lot about what to wear, before he finally had chosen the suit. Yeah, a real suit. A little crumpled, a little torn and a little old, but it was a suit - a brown suit with a white, a little filthy shirt and a blue, violet necktie. Not really nice to see, but the caretaker had taken a lot of effort to look so… good.

And it was the tux he was wearing that made Dumbledore feel a slight chill running through his veins. The caretaker was wearing a brown suit. A brown suit with a blue, violet necktie…

And now he was standing there, looking at Dumbledore as if he would be expecting something from him. "Headmaster" He croaked again. "I…" Argus Filch stopped, not sure how to continue.

"Yes?"

"I…" He took again a deep breath. "I wish you a happy birthday and…"

The slight chill increased to pure horror. This _could_ not be. It _could_ not…

"Wait just a moment, headmaster. I have something special for you." Dumbledore shuddered. "It's a special gift for your birthday" The caretaker said. "I have thought about it…"

_A special gift for your birthday… _

This was too much. It was just like his dream. Exactly like his dream… The horror won the battle inside the headmaster…

"I'm sorry" Dumbledore interrupted him. "I have no time now. Just leave it in my office. I will open it later. There is something really important to do now for me in the dungeons." With that, the headmaster flew. He just restricted himself from running until he was out of sight, then he started to run as if Lord Voldemort and Grindelwald were both together behind him, holding their wands and screaming deathly curses.

Dumbledore ran down the stairs, back to the kitchen but instead of entering the kitchen he passed it and ran 'till he reached the dungeons. Here, in front of the private quarters of his spy he stopped, breathing hard. As if been followed he looked over his shoulder to be sure, that he was alone. Again he tried to calm his breathing before he finally knocked the door.

It took a few seconds for the potion master to open the door. This few seconds were one of the longest in the headmaster's life.

The door opened and Dumbledore swapped in the rooms behind, slamming the door shut again. "Headmaster?" His potion master seemed slightly surprised. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" By the clothes the potion master was wearing Dumbledore could see, that he had pulled Severus out of his bed. Not that anyone would be able to tell if he didn't know the potion master very well. Severus' nightgown looked exactly like his normal clothes, just that it was made of a different material and that the potion master was wearing slippers instead of his normal shoes. His slippers were yellow like the lemon drops Dumbledore loved and were a Christmas gift from said headmaster to his friend. It seemed, that the younger man had gone to bed after leaving the headmaster.

"I…I…" Now, in the safety of his friend's rooms, his own actions seemed wired to the older man. Why did he flee just now? There was nothing to be afraid of… But still the headmaster feared to return to his own rooms.

"Headmaster?"

"I… can I sleep here, Severus?" Dumbledore asked desperately.

"Sleep here?!" The potion master said, looking at his friend as if he had gone mad. "Why should you?" The tone of the younger man's voice changed 'till it sounded a little bit like the nasty tone he was using for the students. "There is a very fine bed for you in this castle without blocking my sofa."

"There is" The headmaster answered. "May I still sleep here?"

"No!" This time the potion master hissed. "You are not a child! You are a grown up man, you can sleep alone in your quarters!"

"You're right" The headmaster sighted. There was a quiet moment between them before Severus opened his door again to let the headmaster leave his quarters.

"Wait!" Dumbledore stopped him before he could leave him alone. "Please, Severus!"

"What do you want now?"

Dumbledore knew, that the younger man would not let him sleep on the sofa but maybe…

"Can you come with me to my rooms?"

"Are you a baby?!" The potion master lifted an eyebrow. His voice was soft, but it wasn't nice like before.

"I…" Albus started, then he sighted again. "A few minutes ago I had a very frightening… please, Severus, just come with me to my quarters…"

"So, let me get this right, headmaster" Snape said. "You are a grown up, since today one hundred and twenty years old wizard. You are one of the most powerful wizards in the world. You have battled two of the darkest wizards in history – and now you are too afraid to go alone to bed?!"

Albus could understand Snape. It sounded like a joke. Still… he nodded.

"Yes" He whispered.

Snape blinked. He seemed surprised that Dumbledore had told him, that he was right.

"You must have an awful _lot on your mind_" The potion master grumbled and stepped out of his door. "All right, I'm coming. Hope that no-one will see us. I will not guarantee his safety when he does."

"Of course" Albus knew, that the potion master would prefer to be sentenced as a Death Eater before been seen in his nightgown by a student – or by a fellow teacher…

Still the younger man followed the headmaster through the empty halls. It took them another ten minutes to return to the gargoyle.

"Can I leave here, headmaster?"

"NO!" Albus screamed.

"All right, open the door!" The potion master sighted. "I'll follow you 'till you let me go, you huge baby!" The insult didn't hit Albus. Snape was right. He _was _behaving like a huge baby. Still… he shuddered again while thinking of meeting the caretaker again – alone and in the middle of the night. No, better behaving like a baby than that…

Dumbledore opened the passage and began to climb the stairs. When he reached the office and opened the door the first thing he saw was… the caretaker. In the last moment he suppressed a scream but he could not stop himself from hiding behind the potion master.

Argus Filch turned around and looked at the intruders.

"Headmaster" He greeted. "Potion master." The first sounded enthusiastic, the second a little bit cool. Argus Filch and Severus Snape knew each other since the potion master was a student. Their relationship was because of that not the easiest one.

"Mr Filch" Snape said. "Excuse us. There is something really important me and the headmaster have to discuss."

The caretaker looked at Albus as if to see if the words of Snape were true. Albus nodded and the caretaker left.

"So this was the scary thing you were afraid of, headmaster?" The potion master guessed with humour in his voice. "You're right – a caretaker in tux, very scary."

"You have no idea" Albus answered while entering his bedroom. "Believe me, Severus, the things I encountered tonight were scarier then you know."

After these words the potion master dropped the topic. Instead he returned to a more important one.

"Do you wish me to stay 'till you sleep?" The potion master asked with sarcasm.

"No, thank you. I think I can manage" Albus answered softly. He didn't like to look weaker than he already did.

Snape sighted. "I'll stay here in the office for another ten minutes. I'm too tired to walk down now." It seemed that the lie of the headmaster had been discovered easily. Albus was thankful that the younger wizard said nothing about lying. Instead he did, what he could best. He told a lie.

Another lie, but Albus was thankful because Severus would stay a little bit longer. And it was not because they were friends that he was thankful for Severus' staying. It was also because of a simple fact, a fact everyone in school knew. Severus Snape was the scariest teacher in school...

So it was normal that, when the scariest teacher in school was guarding the headmaster's bedroom, not even the creepiest caretaker in the world would be able to enter...

SSADSSADSSAD

_Please review. I would like to know what you think about it._


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer**__: Sadly, Harry Potter and all his friends belong to J.K. Rowling. I just borrowed some to play a prank on them. xD_

_This is a story for a friend of mine. She told me she looked for something like that (xD) and was happy not finding it. So I had to write a story about it xDD._

_**Information:**__ This isn't really part of the story. My brother asked me how Severus Snape would react, when someone would see him in his nightgown. So I could not withstand and wrote this little piece of story. Because it somehow fit to the story "Something in his mind" I put it here._

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::

**What happened after **

When Severus Snape was sure that the headmaster was sound asleep he finally left. He was tired after this night and tomorrow morning he would have to teach classes. He groaned. First years, Slytherin and Gryffindor – absolutely horror! And now he wouldn't have enough sleep…

Snape tried to forget. Instead he tried to reach his rooms as fast as possible. When he was half through the castle he saw a little figure sliding through the halls. A student. A student out after curfew. And Snape was in his nightgown…

Severus Snape gritted his teeth. He was a teacher, he had to punish students for breaking the rules, so there was no way to escape the sight of the student…

"Mr Longbottom, twenty points from Gryffindor for breaking the rules. Go to your bedroom and tomorrow morning to your Head of the House for your punishment."

Neville Longbottom shrieked when he heard the potion master's voice. He turned and looked at Severus Snape with huge eyes. One moment the teacher fought the wish to kill the student right away for seeing him while wearing his nightgown and the shoes the headmaster gave him for Christmas, then the most frightening teacher in school bowed and hissed into the student's ear: "When you tell anyone, I'll kill you right away!"

The student nodded, stoned from fear.

"Go to your dormitory and do never dare to leave it again by night time."

Again, Neville nodded, then he turned and ran through the halls as if the devil himself was following him.

Snape's eyes followed the student's movements 'till he was gone. Then he nodded to himself. Yes, Neville Longbottom wouldn't dare to tell this meeting to anyone. He was sure, he had frightened the boy to hell. No-one would ever know something about the nightgown the most frightening teacher in school was wearing. With that, the potion master left the halls to return to his dungeons, not knowing that Neville Longbottom had never but the slightest idea that his teacher had been wearing something different like in class. The boy had even been too frightened to see the tip of the lemon drop yellow slippers which had been shown for not more than a second. But after all, who would guess that Severus Snape, the bat of the dungeons would be wearing his nightgown while walking through the halls of Hogwarts? Even if it was late at night no-one would have ever thought about something like that.

_:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::_

_Please review. I would like to know what you think about it._


End file.
